As both a blogger and a human being, I work hard to try and see the upside in everything, and there’s a lot that’s great (or at least different enough to make sense as a preference) in PC gaming. But there is one point in which I am resolute and can find no common ground with the Mustard Race, and that’s the fundamentally inferior control scheme of keyboard and mouse.

It’s A Kludge

Back in the ’80s and early ’90s, there weren’t really controllers for PCs, largely thanks to the split Nintendo forced between home consoles and home computers. So, as games became more complex, game developers on the PC had to focus on standard equipment, meaning they had to develop for keyboard and mouse.

This, in technology, is the origin story of every annoying inconvenience and bad idea. Sure, it’s not good, but it’s good enough, and we’ll replace it with something else eventually, right? Instead we have millions convinced that somehow, this is how games are supposed to be played.

The Mouse Takes The Skill Out Of It

For games that aren’t dependent on twitch, but rather thought, I will cheerfully agree a mouse is preferable. But in that scenario, the mouse is nothing more than a simple tool, something to trigger the series of actions you have planned. The skill is not in pointing and clicking, but knowing exactly what you want to click and why.

And for everything else, using a mouse is skill-free. If somebody headshots a fellow player from 200 yards with thumbsticks, that’s a skill. One absolutely useless to the real world, perhaps, but it’s still a skill. Sniping somebody with a mouse requires you to have the same skillset as Cheryl from accounting “sniping” that pesky incorrect total in Excel.

The Keyboard Is A Miserable Input Device

Here’s a conversation that absolutely happened at some point around 1983:

Dev 1: “Hey, we need to have the player move around our game world as simply and logically as possible!”

Dev 2: “I know, let’s make them curl their fingers into a painful claw over WASD in a method that makes no logical sense and requires you to use your middle finger to move around.”

Dev 1: “I think this is a great idea because I own stock in a company that makes wrist braces! Hey, can we also use the number pad on the side, to drive everyone slowly insane?”

WASD only makes sense because you were forced to use it; don’t pretend otherwise. And games that try to justify the keyboard by requiring multiple commands mapped to a key are even worse. The keyboard just isn’t designed for you to hop around multiple keys like a headless chicken, and having to press E to draw your sword, Q to rub it with the Potion of Decapitation, and F to do the flying triple backstab only underlines how asinine the whole exercise is. The only positive thing one can say about the keyboard is that it makes it really easy to make Aiden Pearce look like a pervert:

Certainly, I would not say that someone who uses the keyboard and mouse is a lesser gamer, or a lesser human being. Making video game characters do obscene things in traffic is one of the highest callings many of us can aspire to. But let’s let go of the idea that it’s somehow superior, because it’s awful, and we all know it.

@Derbel I read the article and its flawed at best. You can map any default key to any key on the keyboard you want. Sniping with a mouse is easy? You haven’t played any game with even any sort of bullet drop of physics. COD isn’t one of them. WASD? What other keys would you have them be? F for forward, B for backward, L for left, and R for right? It’s my belief that it’s WASD because it leaves the rest of the keyboard open. The “painful claw” would happen no matter what the buttons are. I believe this article should have been titled “The reason I don’t like PC Gaming”.

Did you really just use “the right way” argument? Jesus, I usually like the gaming articles you write, but this is lazy to the point of non-sensical. I get that it’s an opinion piece, but you could at least take the time to present a coherent well-reasoned argument for why you hold your opinion rather than falling into the most basic logial fallacies … e.g. “No True Scotsman”.

I’m not sure “it’s easier in FPS” is an argument. Multiplayer? Everyone else has that advantage too. Single-player? Set the difficulty higher.

I agree with some of your points, but you left out the crippling flaw of modern controllers. You lose the ability to look and perform any action aside from shooting at the same time. Sometimes it’s nice to throw a grenade, jump, reload, or pretty much anything else while you are adjusting your view. Keyboard and mouse gives you the ability to multi-task that two thumbs and index fingers never will.

This may come as shocking news, but you can rebind keys from WASD. A gaming machine is likely set up for gaming, using other input devices like the Nostromo n52 and gaming mice/trackballs. Console players are notoriously awful, and notoriously whiny, which is reflected here. PC is not a standardized piece of equipment like a console, and is infinitely customizable.

“Sniping somebody with a mouse requires you to have the same skillset as Cheryl from accounting “sniping” that pesky incorrect total in Excel”

Its the game rather than the mouse. If your game has huge hitboxes, well then yes mice are what you say they are. Play something like Red Orchestra and you’ll soon realize that there is an art or skill to hitting the area you want to hit. It is not a constant headshot parade.

I do think WASD could have been better. I played MicroProse flight simulators with a keyboard. They had a card stock keyboard overlay so you could keep track of what key did what, the assumption was you didn’t have a mouse or joystick. They used the arrow keys for direction. I had a 84-key keyboard, the only arrow keys were on the number pad. That, or the inverted-T arrow keys made more sense to me than WASD.

We need an analog input that matches the keyboard for versatility. And that’s hard to find without slapping 900 buttons on a controller. I think the Wii controller had it the closest. Two precision controllers with just enough buttons. If someone can devise an analog controller system with 4-5 buttons on each hand and still keep the precision of the mouse. That would be the way to go

I have a gaming PC and a PS3. I’m not a fan boy of either. I play FPS titles on the PC and everything else on PS3.

There is no better way to play a FPS than keyboard and mouse. You have full control, and are able to precisely aim, making your point about skill ridiculous. The skill plateau for EVERYONE raises when you all use a mouse. Not to mention moving a mouse to aim is more akin to moving an actual gun in real life. It feels, and translates better.

Pick up a sniper on 360 and try to do what’s possible with a mouse. You wont be able to.

I’m sorry but this article is nothing but an editorial opinion. There is no scientific study or even a broad survey of a wide variety of gamers. It’s all about person preference. The skill set between PC gamers and device gamers are completely different. I could easily reverse this article and talk about how easy it is to memorize a certain button mashing sequence and flicking a joystick… For me wether it’s keyboard and mouse or a PS or Xbox controller, whatever the game is, I need to learn what’s best for me to WIN the game… If it’s an FPS game, you play to survive and you use whatever device is best for you…

The keyboard and mouse is superior for: strategy games, FPS. adventure games, can fill in decently for a joystick in simulations and also does okay for platformers. Far more versatile and customizable.

An XBox controller is better for platformers, 3rd-Person games, etc.

Arguing that “people only use keyboard/mouse because computers didn’t have ‘controllers’.” is dumb. Saying that using a mouse makes a game “easier” is equally dumb. The only reason it takes “skill” to be good in an FPS using an XBOX controller is because you have to spend time learning to overcome a huge design flaw. FPS games came out on PC first and the “controller” was a mouse and keyboard.

Yeah, I’m really seriously confused. Dan is more typically the voice of consideration, no inflammatory ranting.

Honestly, I prefer to play everything on mouse and keyboard. I don’t enjoy console controllers at all. The Wii controller might have been a possibility, but the motion stuff is still so finicky. But the Xbox and PS controllers are just right out. I can’t stand being forced to have my hands close together for many hours of FPS or RPG play, for example.

The “correct” way to aim a firearm is turning your body to face your target (well, usually), and it is going to be a long time before that is actually a proper option in gaming (which will up the ante on the question of whether we’re actually training people to be shooters, so I’m just as happy for that to be in the future). Mouse, sticks, who cares, it’s all analog.

I assume your arguments about aiming being too easy is because you are a professional gamer and are upset that consoles and PCs have different brackets, because only at a very high level could that complaint possibly make any sense whatsoever. You sound like those casuals in WoW who’ve only ever been in LFR, who complain Raids are easier than Vanilla because the very best players in the world beat the hardest heroics in a couple of months at the most. You’re comparing apples to zebras.

“The keyboard just isn’t designed for you to hop around multiple keys like a headless chicken, and having to press E to draw your sword, Q to rub it with the Potion of Decapitation, and F to do the flying triple backstab only underlines how worthless most developers are at designing UI.” FTFY. Also, if you are a touch typist – which I assume you are, because you type professionally, then this complaint makes still less sense than the mouse one.

Mouse/Keyboard isn’t a perfect representation of how one would do those things in the real world, and neither are any of the console control systems. However, since we’re playing video games for fun and entertainment, not because we’re all former special forces with a plumber specialization and full Officer training schoole, and because no one has come up with some kind of perfect solution for the whole thing, being able to play the way you want is the better option.

Wow, stating ““Sniping somebody with a mouse requires you to have the same skillset as Cheryl from accounting “sniping” that pesky incorrect total in Excel”” while arguing that using a provably inferior peripheral takes more “skill” is akin to saying that professional hockey players have no skills because they’re using those big sticks with the fancy blade technology, those little kids scoring goals with those shitty little plastic sticks, now that takes skill….

I certainly don’t give a shit what kind of input device you choose to use control your little pretend dude on your screen HOWEVER it has been repeatedly proven that a mouse and keyboard is a superior method of input. If you want to play Call of Duty with a nes controller and one eye closed because it’s unnecessarily more difficult and makes you feel more skillful with your headshots go ahead but you are intentionally choosing to use a less accurate method of accomplishing what you are attempting to do.

This article is exactly why console peasant have a reputation as whiners who want everything tailored to their preferences. If you don’t want to use a keyboard and mouse just don’t. A lot of “skilled” people are happily fragging away with no desired to use an inferior method of input #360 #NoScope #MountainDew

Right on, the unexplainable remnant of the keyboard is why I finally dropped PC gaming. Macros and aimbots and such are bad enough, but having to use 4 keys for movement is such a poor and dated concept it always pissed me off the masses didn’t move to a controller of some sort. I am hoping the SteamBox pushes everyone to controllers.

Dude, Dan…. this article is like something that would end up on Kotaku’s front page. That is not a compliment (also kind of mean, I’m sorry).

Everyone has their preferred playing style and controller type. I have owned consoles and gaming PC’s, there are games that are better suited for each system. platformers, 3rd person adventure/shooters, fighting games are all great with a controller. Nothing will ever beat a mouse and keyboard as a control scheme for first person shooters. As for the “no skill” and “too much precision” claims, sure it allows PC players to be far more accurate that console players, but everyone has the same advantage. I would say there is a skill to identifying an enemy player and eliminating them before they do the same to you especially in matches with friendly fire turned on.

so the point of the article is that Mice suck because they’re too good at what they do and keyboards suck because they’re too terrible at what they do? So C is the best grade? Does dual analog get a real C or a Gentleman’s C?
fyi: I hate WASD too, but I hate the fact that it’s the default even more. every time I play first/third person games, I have to edit the keymap for ASDX, which makes all moving and strafing infinitely easier and less painful and I still have no idea why it hasn’t become the standard. W also makes a great keymap for doors/interactions. I wish Steam had some sort of universal keymap system for those of us who actually think about things.

I learned to use the home row (ASDF) right from the beginning of my multiplayer FPS days (the original Team Fortress I believe). It took a little getting used to but now it’s as natural as breathing. It’s much more comfortable than WASD and allows better access to more buttons on the keyboard.

Also, just because the mouse is more accurate does not mean it takes less skill to use.

Full disclosure, my family never got beyond the SNES so my main console experience ended with Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, and A Link to the Past. FPS’s didn’t show up on consoles till much later so I never learned to play them with controllers. I’m happily in thrall to keyboard/mouse and I’ll never be proficient with a controller.

also, poor controls as a substitute as making the game more “challenging” is THE WORST, also known (by me and soon… the world) “The Resident Evil Rule.”
Have you played Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition? It’s like they took this shitilly controlled game and made it PLAYABLE by letting you AIM at the bad guys by pointing at them. You know, what actual real life aiming is like? Or do you just go shooting with a rifle mounted on gimbals and aim at the target with a dual-analog plugged into the machine, so that you can show off your “skill?” Because, if that’s how you shoot in real life, okay I totally understand and you have amazing 1337 SK33LZZUZZ

I also hate keyboard and mouse controls, so whenever possible I use a 360 controller hooked up to my PC. Makes it so much better.

The problem is that in multiplayer shooters, one is essentially forced into using a mouse so that the playing field is essentially level. So, as a way to avoid the keyboard I use a PS3 Nav controller that is tied into my PC via a bluetooth dongle and Motionjoy. That way, I get the benefit of analogue movement and the precision aiming of the mouse.

I’d still prefer everyone used a controller, but that’s just not realistic. Too many PC gamers would complain if they were forced to give up Keyboard/Mouse controls.

Apparently a lot of people would think I’m crazy, but I had to stop playing Borderlands 2 off Steam until I could get it to recognize the PS4 controller. It was just so much simpler for me to use a controller, and I definitely feel like I played better with the controller than the keyboard.

I own two consoles, a handheld system, and a computer. Guess what I use for gaming? Whatever I want! Some games play better on the X-Box controller, some play better on a PS controller, and some better on a keyboard and mouse. Is keyboard and mouse optimal for all games? Of course not. But neither are console controllers.

You can remap keyboard keys in most games. I don’t use WSAD. It doesn’t feel right to me; a little cumbersome. Instead, I use either alt or the SPACEBAR to go forward, S for backwards, Q and W or Q and E for strafe and Z or X for jump. It puts your hand in a much more comfortable position and allows ease of access for sprint / walk / crouch / jump keys. As for the mouse (which can also have buttons in addition to standard right click, left click, wheel) I feel it is just as much a skill to do a headshot with a mouse & keyboard as it is with a controller, depending on the game. The only reason I could ever really understand using a controller for any game, regardless of platform, would be if someone wanted to play on their couch with a big screen tv. Or if the object they are sitting on doesn’t have an easy way to set up a keyboard and mouse (like a couch, or comfy armchair or beanbag, or the floor). Either way, its just a matter of preference really. I suggest you give mouse n keyboard another try, get more experience on it. Tinker with the controls, figure out what feels right for you.

As a console first gamer, I have a great time, probably us much as or even more than if I were to play on a pc. The notion of having a controller or kb determine my level of fun is really beyond my grasp of understanding…..what’s wrong with you people?….game more and stop trying to impress each other with such nonsense